HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
A Dayton bridge over the Stillwater River where an 1896 murder gave rise to reports of a woman's apparition.
Ridge Ave at Stillwater River, Dayton, OH 45405
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public access to the bridge and surrounding area.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved bridge deck and adjacent city sidewalk along the Stillwater River.
Equipment
Photos OK
1896 Bessie Little Murder · Montgomery County · Ohio Electric Chair History
On the night of August 27, 1896, Albert Frantz shot 23-year-old Bessie Little twice in the head on or near the Ridge Avenue bridge crossing the Stillwater River in west Dayton. Little was several months pregnant at the time of her death. Frantz, who had been involved with her, disposed of her body in the river. Her remains were recovered and the case went quickly to trial.
Frantz was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. On April 9, 1897, he was executed at the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, becoming the fourth person to die in Ohio's electric chair. The case drew significant regional press coverage at the time, partly because of the method of execution—electrocution was still a relatively new practice—and partly because of the circumstances of the killing.
The Ridge Avenue bridge is a utilitarian city span carrying automobile and pedestrian traffic over the Stillwater River. It has no formal historical marker or memorial associated with the Bessie Little case, and the site draws attention primarily through word-of-mouth and regional haunted-history coverage rather than official designation.
Sources
The Bessie Little case left a durable imprint on local lore in west Dayton. Regional accounts collected over the past several decades describe witnesses seeing a female apparition on or near the Ridge Avenue bridge, particularly after dark. The figure is consistently identified in these accounts with Bessie Little herself.
No formal paranormal investigation has been published for the site. The reports appear in regional haunted-Ohio compilations and oral accounts, and the bridge is sometimes listed on informal dark-tourism routes through the Dayton area. The haunting legend appears to be sustained by memory of the crime rather than by any structured investigation or media treatment.
Notable Entities
Walk the Ridge Avenue span over the Stillwater River, the site where Albert Frantz disposed of Bessie Little's body in August 1896. The bridge and riverbank are publicly accessible. Local accounts of a ghostly woman on the bridge have circulated in the area for decades.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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